Tonight's Dinner - Brats, Greens and Smoked Paprika Roasted Potatoes

Sunday is cooking day. I've had to admit that while cooking real food can be easy and sooooo tasty, to enjoy real, home-cooked, food does take some time. I enjoy puttering in the kitchen so much, that it doesn't seem like a chore to me. It's comforting and creative and I feel in my element. (Sometimes the resulting dishes do feel like a chore, but that's where Mr. Dwayne comes in!)

Today, the contents of my fridge turned into a delicious meal and some awesome soup for weekday lunches. Our dinner included Sheboygan Brats from Morant's - the premier artisan sausage makers in Sacramento. I think it would be seriously challenging to remove the deliciousness from these things! As long as they are cooked to a safe temp, you're good to go. I just pan fried mine with some onions and olive oil. I used up beet greens from last weekend's farmers' market run, and the last little bit of some balsamic vinaigrette for sweet and sour greens. The recipe I want to share from tonight's dinner is for simple roasted potatoes.

Organic potatoes have a habit of sprouting and growing if not dealt with in a timely manner. This an excellent quality that I am counting for potato growing in my garden. However, those little eyes have toxins and they are not to be eaten. My pantry provided a pound of little yellow potatoes from my farm box and three red potatoes from the store. Both were getting their growth on. I trimmed and scrubbed them, dried and cut them and tossed them with olive oil, salt and pepper and smoked paprika. I can't believe it has taken so long for smoked paprika to come into my life! (Thanks Garrett!) It adds so much smokey goodness to these simple potatoes. Smoked paprika took these potatoes from a salvage job to a sublime dish, perfect for a stormy Sunday. Do try it!

Smoked Paprika Roasted Potatoes
2 lbs. potatoes, trimmed, washed, dried and cut into large chunks
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
1/4 tsp. granulated garlic
lots of freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400. Toss all of the ingredients together to coat and place in a 9 X 13 inch baking pan. Roast, uncovered for about 40 minutes. Stir once or twice during the roasting time.

Served two with some leftovers at my house. We probably ate too many!